In recent years, operational management of an information processing system including a group of information processing devices such as servers, storages, and network devices, and facilities that feed power to the group of information processing devices or cool the group of information processing devices, or more particularly, a comprehensive power-saving operational management technology for the group of information processing devices and facilities has attracted attention. This is attributable to the fact that: the number of information processing devices is increasing along with fast exploitation of information communication and with the advent of the age of fusion of broadcast and communication; and there is an impending necessity of greatly reducing power consumptions of the information processing devices so as to diminish carbon dioxide for the purpose of preventing global warming.
For example, patent document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-126968) describes that a management server which performs job scheduling for parallel computers assigns a new job to a computer, the temperature of which is low, on the basis of computer temperature sensor information of the computer, moves a job from a computer, the temperature of which is high, to the computer whose temperature is low, and thus prevents a fault or degradation of performance from occurring in the parallel computers due to high temperature. Before and after a job is moved, the power consumptions of computers and cooling devices associated with the computers are estimated based on pieces of temperature information. Thus, whether the job can be moved is decided.
Patent document 2 (US2007/0180117) describes that a management system for plural computers samples an overheated computer and a non-overheated computer on the basis of a temperature distribution among the computers and pieces of working information, moves software from the former to the latter, and thus saves power. In addition, after object computers are sampled, a variation in a power of each of the computers between before and after the software is moved is compared with a variation in an air-conditioning power in order to decide whether the movement can be made. The computer power is obtained from the working information, the air-conditioning power is obtained from the temperature distribution, and the temperature distribution is obtained using a temperature sensor, a temperature history, or the working information.
Patent document 3 (U.S. Patent Application No. 2006-0259621) describes a method of allocating workloads to plural servers existent in a data center. Herein, a profile of a requested workload is compared with a history profile, and the requested workload is allocated to a server according to a history signifying that the powers of the server and an air conditioner are the minimum. If the matched history is absent, the workload is allocated at random. The history profile specifies a position of a server, a class, working information, intake air temperature, exhaust temperature, type of workload, power required by the server, and power required by the air conditioner. The powers of the server and air conditioner are obtained based on the intake air temperature and exhaust temperature of the server, a specific heat, and an air volume, or measured using a power meter.
Patent document 4 (U.S. Patent Application No. 2006-0259793) describes a method for distributing power to plural servers existent in a data center. Herein, a power budget is lent or borrowed between servers or racks, geographical positions of which are close to each other, so that a temperature distribution, that is, a power distribution can approach an ideal analog distribution. Decentralized powers of servers are designated based on the budget allotment, whereby a fault of a server is prevented from occurring due to a hot spot or cold spot. A heat multiplier indicating an ideal power for each server is obtained based on the exhaust temperature of the server, a reference exhaust temperature of an average server, and an intake air temperature of an air conditioner.
Patent document 5 (US2009/0259345) describes that power saving of a group of information processing devices is feasible by concentrating workloads on a specific device, and suspending or stopping the other devices, while power saving of air-conditioning facilities is feasible by decentralizing the powers of the group of devices so as to improve running efficiency. When such contradictory requirements have to be satisfied, there are provided an operational management method and operational management device that minimize or optimize a total power required by the group of devices and facilities. Specifically, in order to realize minimization of the powers of the group of information processing device and air-conditioning facilities in comprehensive consideration of a power distribution or variation and arrangement relative to the air-conditioning facilities, the variation among the workloads or any other situation is monitored, and the workloads are arranged on the group of devices in an appropriately intensive and decentralized manner according to the situation.